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Liberal leader Sussan Ley has managed to fend off a leadership challenge by proposing a new strategy aimed at reuniting the Coalition, a move currently under consideration by the Nationals.
Rumors of a possible leadership bid by right-wing contender Angus Taylor intensified following a recent rift within the Coalition over Labor’s hate speech legislation. This tension came to a head just two weeks ago when the division became public.
In a bid to mend these fractures, Ley engaged in late-night discussions with Nationals leader David Littleproud on Monday. Subsequently, she issued a letter outlining three non-negotiable terms designed to bring the Coalition back together.
One of the key demands in her proposal is the temporary suspension of three senators—Ross Cadell, Bridget McKenzie, and Susan McDonald—who broke ranks with the shadow cabinet, suggesting a six-month suspension as a consequence.
Littleproud indicated that the Nationals are seriously weighing Ley’s “endeavours to reset the Coalition,” with discussions continuing privately to find a path forward.
“It’s important we take the time to get the settings right,” he said in a statement.
However, a Nationals source, requesting anonymity to speak freely, said the suggestion of agreeing to a suspension is untenable.
SBS News understands shadow cabinet solidarity, the issue that created the split, as well as the inability of the Liberal or National party rooms to reverse decisions made by the shadow cabinet, are also sticking points.
Ley hopes to have the matter resolved in the coming week before parliament resumes for the second sitting week.
Some in the Nationals party room also back a reunification. MP Darren Chester was set to use the party room meeting on Monday to move a motion to reinstate the Coalition.
“Every moment we spend talking about ourselves, is a free pass to a weak and divisive prime minister who has failed to keep his promises to lower energy bills and govern for all Australians,” he said on social media.
Ley’s offer came as her supporters — including legal affairs spokesperson Andrew Wallace — flanked her on either side on Tuesday morning ahead of the Liberal party room meeting.
Wallace, who was promoted following Andrew Hastie’s resignation from the frontbench last October, believes “Sussan has the numbers”.
“Sussan Ley has the support of the party room, I do not believe there is an active move against her,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.
Last May, Ley beat Taylor by only three votes — 29 to 25 — when the party room voted on who would replace Peter Dutton as Liberal Party leader following the Coalition’s heavy federal election defeat.
However, the retirement of two senators and the removal of Gisele Kapterian from the party room after she lost a recount in Bradfield means, in reality, the numbers are even tighter.
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